AnERPTransformationIsaBusiness
Transformation
DECEMBER09,2021
ByNeveenAwad,KirkFrancis,TedKubit,andDanielSchlecht
Lengthy,costly,anddisappointingERPprojectsmaybeatradition,butERP
thatpropelsyourdigitalvisionisthefuture.Here’showtogettherenow.
Companiesmovingtonext-genenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)solutionsoften
describetheexperienceinthesamewords.Unfortunately,it’snotadreamteamof
adjectives.Frustrating,lengthy,costly,disappointing—thelistgoeson.Whydoesa
?2021BostonConsultingGroup1
projectintendedtodelivergreatoutcomesreturnlittlevalue,ortakesolongto
delivervalue,orbringresultsthatnooneisevensureisvalue?
AbigreasonisthatmanycompaniesapproachERPtransformationasanIT
project,plannedandmanagedfromatechnicalperspective.Infact,it’sabusiness
transformation.Andlikeanybusinesstransformation,ERPrequiresavalue
perspectiverightfromthestart.Wheredoesthebusinessvaluereside?Howcanwe
optimizethatvalue?HowshouldERPfitwithinourdigitalarchitectureand
ambitions?
Thesearequestionstoaskbeforeembarkingonamultiyearjourney.Bytakinga
value-basedapproach,companiescanzeroinonthebusinesscasefornext-genERP
andseereturnsastheygo—insteadofwaitingforagrandunveiling.Theycan
reducethecomplexityandincreasetheflexibilityoftheirERPlandscape.Andthey
canlowerthecostofthetransformation,inourexperience,by20%to35%.That
freesupfundstoputintodigitalinitiatives—theroutetomorevaluestill.
SeizingthePotentialofNext-GenERP
NewERPplatformslikeSAPS/4HANAcandeliverpowerfulcapabilities,especially
inthewaytheyworkwithdataandleveragetechnologieslikeAI.They’re
conducivetoamodularapproachtoplatformsand